


Knock Me Down

by commandercrouton



Series: Reylo Drabbles & One-Shots [8]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Office, Brief scenes inspired by Dwight from the Office, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, I'm Bad At Tagging, Modern Era, One Shot, One-Sided Attraction, ben gets a concussion, inspired by reylo prompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-12-02 00:11:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20944817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/commandercrouton/pseuds/commandercrouton
Summary: Ben gets a concussion thanks to Rey. Who would have thought getting knocked in the head would bring the romance out?





	Knock Me Down

**Author's Note:**

  * For [katieitsmee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/katieitsmee/gifts).

> Happy Birthday to my amazing and wonderful wife. I love you so much Katie and I'm so happy this fandom brought me to you. I know I said I would gift you something regarding our floating trip, but I thought this might be better hahaha Love you!

To be fair, it isn’t exactly Rey’s fault. Yes, she may sometimes open the break-room door a bit too forcefully, but in her defense— it sticks more often than not. Despite the multiple complaints the staff has given to custodial services and the landlord, the situation has never been fixed.

Which is how, on this rainy Thursday afternoon, Rey accidentally knocks out Ben Solo with a strong push. At first she is unsure where the resistance came from, until she sees Ben lying on the floor like a sack of potatoes, unconscious, with a huge welt in the middle of his forehead.

“Ben!” she cries in shock, dropping to her knees as she gingerly places his head in her hands. She ignores the feeling of the office carpet digging into her knees as she carefully examines the wound.

“Shit, Rey finally killed Solo,” Poe mutters, standing behind her. Finn chokes on his laughter, but instantly sobers by the glare Rey gives them.

“Shut up, no I didn’t. He’s fine, he’s just knocked out.”

“I’m surprised he’s not just knocked out. You pushed open that door like a freaking linebacker,” Rose pipes up, shoving her way forward.

“Rose, can you go to tell Leia what happened, please?” Rey asks, placing her fingers against Ben’s throat, and instantly relaxing the minute she feels his pulse. She ignores the way her hand tingles when pressed against his warm skin. 

“Just to make sure, do you want me to include you were the one who knocked him out?”

Rey freezes. Later on in her life, she will swear she never utters these words, but in truth, she does. “God, don’t tell her that. She’ll think I actually killed her bastard of a son on purpose.”

As Rose walks away, Finn and Poe rush to grab a glass of water, coming back to sprinkle droplets on his face.

“Ben, it’s raining, you have to get up,” Poe whispers, flicking water on Ben’s handsome face. 

“Poe, what the hell?” Rey hisses, shoving her arm against his leg as she tries to push him away.

“Well, what else do you want us to do!?”

“I don’t know! Go wait for Rose and let me know if I need to find a job. He’s gonna be pissed enough as it is when he sees me. He definitely does not need to see you, also.”

“You wound me,” Poe jokes, but still grabs Finn to move out of the way. “Good luck, Niima.”

She watches them turn the corner before she turns her attention back to Ben. Eyeing the glass of water left behind, she briefly considers dumping it on him to see if it will work, but decides against it.

Chewing on her lip, she decides to do something she never thought she would have to do in her entire career - gently wake Ben Solo.

“Ben,” she part whispers and part sings as she leans over him. “TIme to get up.”

Ben lets out a small moan, and a small part of Rey is relieved to hear confirmation of him being okay. Surprisingly, a bigger part of her is somehow inexplicably and undoubtedly attracted to the way the sound falls from his admittedly plush and pink lips. Maybe she accidentally hit her head as well?

“Rey?”

Rey is instantly brought out of her thoughts and looks down at Ben’s amber brown eyes. Somehow those eyes look at her so tenderly and soft— almost as if she is something precious and imaginary. Sometimes she thinks she sees a flicker of that in his eyes, but it is always gone before she can be sure. Right now though, is the confirmation she needs.

“Ben? Are you okay?” 

“I— what happened?” he asks, trying to sit up, but groans and lays back down.

“The door hit you.”

“What did I do to the door? Why is it mad at me?” 

Rey slowly blinks at him. Did he just make a joke? 

“I’m sorry, did you just make a joke?” she asks, wanting to confirm.

He looks back at her. “Sweetheart, my head hurts. Can you kiss it and make it better?”

“I’m sorry— what!?” she splutters.

“What?” 

“What did you just say?”

“What.”

“I just asked you to repeat yourself.”

“I know. I said “what.””

“Ben, do you remember what day it is?”

His brows furrow and he seems to be concentrating really hard, and Rey cannot help but think how adorable he looks. His dark hair is hanging away from his face, and his large ears are on display.

“It’s Thursday.”

“Okay...do you think you can stand?”

“Only if you help me.”

Rey instantly agrees. It is the least she can do. It is because of her he has a large welt on his forehead that seems to be bruising at an alarming rate.

“Benji!”

They both look up and see Leia marching down the hallway, worry and concern etched on her face.

“Sorry, sweetheart, we will have to pick this up later. That’s my mom.”

“I know it’s your mom. We all know it’s your mom. Are you sure you’re alright, because you seem—”

“Benji, are you alright?” Leia interrupts, looking down at her son on the floor.

“I’m fine, Mom. I just need help getting up and I can get back to work.”

“Are you sure?”

He spares a glance at Rey with a smirk, as if it to say ‘Mothers, am I right?’ and she is just as confused by the movement as Leia is.

Finn and Poe can sense the situation growing weirder, and intervene to help lift Ben up. 

“Thanks guys,” he says as he brushes dirt off his button down and slacks. “Time to get back to work. I’ll see you around?” He directs the last statement to Rey. All she can do is nod, until he turns away with a  _ wink _ . She can feel herself blushing and wills herself not to look at the others.

“I think you knocked the dumbass out of him,” Leia mutters.

Rey can’t help but agree.

\----

The whole office is abuzz with talk of the new Ben Solo. He helps Kaydel set up her new laptop. He offers to buy coffee for Finn and Poe as a thank you for helping him. He even asks Rey if she wants anything, and somehow looks dejected as she harshly turns him down. 

The look he gives her is akin to something she sees herself at times. The one which makes an appearance as she realizes no one would willingly want to spend time with her, always picking someone or something else instead. It sobers her up instantly, and she changes her mind. 

The smile he gives her causes her heart to skip a beat. 

As they wait in line they manage to have a conversation without yelling at one another. He makes her laugh more than once, and she is surprised to hear how funny he is. His delivery is dry and witty, and she is loving it. They have an amazing back and forth occurring, and they don’t even realize it is their turn in line until the person behind them speaks up.

As Rey begins to pay for her drink, Ben shuts her down. “My treat, as thanks.”

“Are you sure?” 

“Absolutely. You stayed by my side. That means a lot to me.”

“Okay, but only if I get the next one.”

A shy smile grows on his face. “So, there will be a next one?”

“Sure, Solo. I don’t go back on promises.”

“Ben.”

“Hm?” she asks, stepping to the side as they wait for their coffee order.

“Ben. You called me Ben earlier when I was waking up. I liked it.”

“Alright, Ben.”

They don’t stop smiling at one another the rest of the time. And if their fingers brush against one another more than once, well, that is just pure coincidence. 

\----

“Something is wrong with him.”

Rey scowls at Finn as she leans on his desk, the two watching Ben Solo type away at his desk. 

“Just because he is being nice doesn’t mean something is wrong with him,” Rey argues.

Finn rolls his eyes. “Yeah, because you are crushing on this Ben Solo.”

“Uh, no - I mean why would I - Shut up, I am not,” she stumbles over her words.

“It’s about time you two got over this sexual tension thing. But something is really wrong with him.”

“Hey Ben! How are you doing?” Mitaka asks as he walks past his desk.

“Hey, how’s it going?” Ben smiles.

Finn and Rey watch the interaction like vultures stalking their next meal.

Mitaka glances at his computer and smiles back at Ben, instantly walking away.

“Something is wrong with him,” Mitaka whispers. 

“I swear you two are the worst. Maybe he is actually just being nice,” Rey says, waving at Ben as she catches him staring at her. He blushes and looks back at his computer screen. She is surprised to feel her cheeks warm as well.

“Yeah, no. You know how he said he is working? He is writing ‘Rey Solo’ over and over again. I think he has a concussion.” Mitaka walks away, shaking his head. “One of us should take him to the hospital.”

The feeling of her stomach being laden with rocks causes Rey to stop breathing for just a moment. Of course the one time a guy she may actually develop feelings for is only nice to her because of a concussion. 

“Don’t say anything,” Rey whispers to Finn. 

He eyes her with a quizzical glance, then turns away abruptly when he notices the shine to her eyes. Instead of saying anything, he grabs her hand and squeezes it comfortingly. “Come on Peanut, let’s get Solo back.”

Together they walk to his desk, and with each step it feels as if weights are being added to her shoulders. They watch as Ben continues to type away, even when he sees them walking to him.

“Hey Ben, what are you working on?” she softly asks him, glancing at the screen. Sure enough, multiple Rey Solo’s litter the word document.

“Oh you know, just typing up some e-mails. We need to approve the new marketing slogan. It’s pretty urgent,” he responds, sparing a smile at her as he continues to type away. 

“I think we need to go somewhere,” Finn steps in.

“Why? We just got to work.” Ben extends his arm to glance at his watch, and his brows furrow. “Huh, my watch must be off. It says it’s almost two in the afternoon.”

“Come on buddy, we gotta go,” Finn prods again.

“Rey, will you please tell him I have to work.”

She has never once heard Ben utter the word please in her life. Her heart seems to break again.

“Finn, why don’t you go get Leia? I’ll handle this.” She watches him for a moment before he turns to jog to Leia’s office. “Hey Ben, want to go somewhere with me?”

He instantly stops typing. His eyes slowly move from the computer to her form standing in front of him, taking in her nervous expression that is  _ just I  _ on the verge of sad. “I’d go anywhere with you, Rey. I was just hoping I’d have the guts to ask you first, though.”

“Ask me what?” Her throat closes up and she can feel her palms sweating. Her heart is pounding like a hummingbird’s, and she is sure he can hear it. 

He runs a hand through his hair and takes a deep breath. His eyes are soft and hopeful - so similar to the way he looked at her this morning. He runs his hands across his thighs, a nervous gesture. And in that moment, she knows exactly what he is going to ask.

“Nevermind—”

“Rey, I was hoping, if you would like—”

“Don’t, Ben.”

“—to go on a date. I mean, with me. Obviously with me, but just to clarify. It would be you and me, alone, together.”

She never thought she would want to cry and smile all at once. “I would love to, Ben. But first, we have to go somewhere, alright?”

At her confirmation, his face simply beams. It is a dazzling smile, one that shows true happiness. She hates that the first time she sees this smile on Ben’s face is at a time when it isn’t really Ben.

“Let’s go,” he says, grabbing his jacket as he stands from his desk.

Ben, bless his sweet giant self, doesn’t ask what is happening until his mother climbs in the car.

“Mom, what are you doing here?” 

“We are going to the hospital, Benji.”

He releases a loud gasp. “Are you alright, Mom?” 

“I’m fine, it’s you I’m worried about.”

He scoffs, but grabs Rey’s hand as Leia starts the car. “Please, don’t leave me. I’m scared to go to the hospital alone with her. What if she is sick?”

Rey looks at their intertwined hands. His large hand engulfs her small one. By all accounts, it should not work, it shouldn’t feel right, but it does. It feels as if Rey has finally found the missing piece she didn’t realize she was missing. 

“I’ll go with you,” she whispers. 

“I knew it,” he says in response, relaxing against the seat as his mother merges onto the freeway to go to the closest hospital.

“Knew what?”

He squeezes her hand just like Finn does. “That I was going to marry you. I just had to stop being an asshole and finally tell you that I think you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.”

Leia almost crashes the car at his words, and the moment is lost. 

\---

“I’m not going anywhere without Rey!” he thunders.

Leia and Rey watch as the nurse tries to drag him to the exam room.

“Oh for fuck’s sake, Rey, just go with him. I’ll fill out the forms.” 

“Oh no, I couldn’t—”

She is cut off by the feeling of strong arms being wrapped around her torso, and she instantly feels safe. Ben nuzzles into her hair, and she simply melts. “Sweetheart, you said you wouldn’t leave me.” His tone is petulant. 

“I was just trying to respect your privacy, but if you really want me to go with you, I will.”

He presses a kiss into her hair, and entwines their fingers. “So, I was thinking about our date. How about tomorrow night? I know a great place by my apartment. It has a small menu, but everything is delicious. Unless, you want something specific?”

“Oh, no, I trust your opinion,” she mutters, knowing full well the date will never occur.

“Well, how about we say we go there, but if tomorrow you want anything else, we can do that.”

She nods along as they are ushered into an exam room. They only have to wait a few moments before Dr. Holdo makes an appearance. 

She checks his pupils, reaction time, the bump on his bed. Once she is done examining him, she prompts him into a conversation, where she asks him simple questions that he should know but somehow can’t recall.

“Well Ben, it looks like you have a concussion. Nothing a few day’s rest and extra strength ibuprofen won’t help with. We will probably have you complete a MRI to ensure there is no bleeding.”

“Can Rey come with me?” Ben asks, fiddling with the tissue paper covering the patient’s bench.

“Unfortunately no, only you.”

“I don’t see why she can’t come. I’m gonna marry her, you know. Our kids are gonna be beautiful and smart, just like her. I just hope they don’t get my ears.”

“I like your ears,” Rey blurts out.

His ears turn a delicious shade of pink. “You do?”

“Absolutely,” she confirms with a smile.

Dr. Holdo lets out a chuckle. “You kids are cute, but no Ben, she cannot come. And before you pout, it is a safety issue. You want Rey to be safe, don’t you?”

Ben looks as if she just asked him if the sky is blue. “Of course. She means everything to me.”

Rey fights the urge to cry.

“Okay then, follow me.”

Ben stands up and follows Dr. Holdo, giving Rey a reassuring smile as he strides forward. She doesn’t even realize she is moving until she is in his arms again, and to her horror she is sniffling and his arms wrap tighter around her.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” 

“Nothing, I’m just gonna miss you is all.”

“Miss me? I’m not going anywhere.”

“I know.”

“I have to get a MRI done.”

“I know.”

“Rey, where am I?”

“The hospital, remember?”

“Right.”

She hugs him even tighter. “Bye Ben.”

“Until I get back. We have our date tomorrow.”

She lets him go. Ben turns back to smile at her before he walks behind double doors where they keep the heavy machinery. She grabs her things and leaves in record time.

\----

Ben doesn’t come back to work the next day. Rey tries to ignore the discomfort she feels at the sight of his empty desk. She does an excellent job of ignoring her feelings by delving into work, but they come back as she sits alone in her apartment, eating take-out and binge watching crime shows on Netflix.

Rey tries not to think of the dress she would wear tonight, or the restaurant Ben would take her to. She tries not to think about his smile, and his laugh. Instead, she tries to focus on the heated arguments between them. The way he always found some snide comment to make when she made a joke to her friends. The way he teased her when she would try new hairstyles. The way he would give her a heated look, one which she used to think was anger, after a thrilling yelling match that would leave them panting with parted lips.

She sips at her wine and realizes just how much the anger he directed at her wasn’t really anger at all. If concussion Ben was honest, well, then, that means Ben doesn’t hate her. Oh no. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Shaking her head, she tells herself she will enjoy the weekend, and when she sees him at work on Monday, everything will be resolved.

By that Monday, though, everything is normal. And she hates it. 

She hates the way Ben avoids looking at her as he strides through the office. She hates the way Ben looks at Kaydel with annoyance as she tries to ask about some update her laptop wanted to do. She hates the way Ben scoffs at the way Finn leans against her desk. 

By lunch time, tension and anger is rolling off her shoulders. Who does he think he is? How dare he just act like Friday never happened. She knows that he knows how he acted. There is no way in hell Leia would let him live it down. 

There is confirmation in the way she catches him staring at her over his screen. The first time he blushes and instantly looks away. The second time she tries to smile at him, but he scowls and types harder. The third time she stares back, daring him to say something. 

As she continues to stare at him, she sees a flush grow outward from his cheeks, and she is sure his ears match. He abruptly pushes away from the desk, his chair creaking as he stands, and he storms into the breakroom clenching his fists.

Before she even realizes what she is doing, Rey stands as well and follows him, shutting the door behind them and locking it. He barely turns a glance at her as he opens the fridge and grabs his lunch.

“Something wrong, Niima?” His tone is cold, so different than what it was on that Thursday.

“Don’t play games with me, Ben.”

The name causes him to freeze, just a moment, but enough for Rey to know the Ben she met is in there somewhere. 

“It’s not fair. Can you be honest with me? Just once?”

“What do you want me to be honest about, Niima?”

“Let’s start with the fact that you like me? Or would you rather jump in to how you told your mother that I was the girl you planned to marry?”

His hands tighten around his coffee mug, and she can see cracks form around it. She instantly steps away from him, knowing when he gets like this, things tend to break. He hears her step away from him, and he has the grace to look ashamed.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

She lets out a laugh, and his shoulders relax just a smidge. “You don’t scare me. Sure, you have annoyed me before, but you don’t scare me. I just want to know why.”

“Why, what?” 

“Why you never just asked me out to begin with. I mean, you were such an arse. I thought that was just how you were with everyone, and I never thought of it. But then, I hit you in the head, and all of a sudden you were so nice and friendly. You looked at me like I mattered,” she ends softly.

“Rey,” he begins, but stops. He sets the mug down and runs a large hand through his hair. He turns around and looks at her. There is a vulnerable look that surrounds him, and she knows she looks the same. “You do matter,” he finally continues, “you matter so much to me. You are smart, you don’t take any shit, and my god, you are gorgeous. I just didn’t know how to talk to you when we weren’t arguing. I just ended up convincing myself that talking to you that way was better than no way at all.”

She purses her lips and watches him. “You could have tried. I’m a nice person. And you acting like an arse wasn’t going to make me like you. I mean, which version of you was the real you?”

“Um, I guess both?”

“Both,” she repeats, disbelief evident in her tone.

“No, seriously. Both. The Ben on Thursday is the Ben that wants to come out around you. The one who wants to treat you to coffee and make you laugh. The one who gets the courage to ask you on a date.”

“And the Ben we normally encounter?”

“That is very much me. People are idiots. I don’t like most people. I am rude and abrasive, and have a very low patience for people who make juvenile jokes. That being said, I seem to like you very much, and I’ll be whatever Ben you want me to be.”

At the last comment she smiles, and she is gifted with a small upturn of his lips. “I don’t want you to change to be with me. But if we do this, you can’t be a shithead to my friends.”

He takes a step forward. “Do  _ what _ , exactly?”

A blush covers her cheek, and she quickly looks away from him. Suddenly he is crowding around her, and her senses are overloaded by his smell, the way he towers over her, the sight of his large hands slowly rising to force her to look at him. His overall presence is so captivating— yet so distracting. 

“Rey,” he tries again. “Do what?”

She mumbles out the word, and he raises his eyebrows at her. Sighing, she says it louder, letting the word fall from her mouth to the void where she can no longer take it back. 

“Dating.”

Her stomach flips at the sight of the grin growing on his lips.

“So you still want to go on that date with me, huh? Always knew you had a soft spot for me, Niima.”

“Shut up, Solo,” she grumbles, blushing at the cockiness of his tone.

“I mean, I am quite attractive,” he continues, grinning at her.

“I take it back. Nevermind. It’s not happening.” Rey backs away from him and turns to walk to the door, but before she gets too far, one of his hands wraps around her wrist and pulls her back.

“No way, Niima. No take backs. You’re stuck with me.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Ben. I only agreed to one date.”

“I think there’s going to be more,” he said, smiling down at her.

“Oh, and what makes you say that?”

“You called me Ben.”

She wears a smile matching his. “Oh, did I? I didn’t notice.”

The laugh he gives her spreads a warmth from the center of her soul and expands outward to encompass her entire body. 

She would never admit this to him, but for once Ben Solo was right. There were many dates after the first one. Enough to last a lifetime. 

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi and support me here - [tumblr](https://commandercrouton.tumblr.com/) or on [twitter](https://twitter.com/Cmndr_Crouton)!


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